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Every month there’s a new product on the market designed to ‘improve’ your vagina. (Picture: Getty/metro.co.uk)

This week, The Hills alum Lo Bosworth announced that she’s launching a range of ‘100% natural’ feminine hygiene products, called Love Wellness.

The Cut reports that the range includes boric-acid suppositories designed to treat yeast infections, probiotic pills, a powder called ‘Blue Tea’ that promises to be a ‘fabulous antioxidant’, wipes, cleansers, and moisturisers – all designed for your downstairs area.

Prices start at $8 (£7) and go up to $28 (£23), and Lo Bosworth recommends that women buy everything in the collection (currently seven products in total) and use them all together.

Which is, let’s be real, a blatant attempt to sell women something they don’t in any way need, by implying it’s just another way to achieve the ambiguous concept of ‘wellness’ and ‘#TakeCareDownThere’.

(Picture: metro.co.uk)

Lo Bosworth is not alone in trying to monetise the vagina by focusing on ‘all-natural’ remedies that claim to be better than whatever the doctor’s recommending.

The issue with all of these things? They’re not in any way necessary to maintaining a healthy vagina – and they could actually end up doing harm to your bits.

The marketing of these products all operates on a simple, damaging concept: there’s something wrong with your vagina, and *this* is the way to fix it.

(Picture: Getty/metro.co.uk)

These companies tell us that our vaginas are in need of ‘detoxing’, that tighter is better, that our labia could do with lightening (one of the declared ‘benefits’ of the oxygen infused TOM sanitary pads).

With flowery scents and words like ‘wellness’, ‘fresh’, and ‘clean’, these companies sneakily imply that left to their own devices, our vaginas smell bad, and need to perfumed, that they are unclean, and that there’s something wrong that needs to be fixed.

Which isn’t the case at all, to be clear. The way vaginas smell naturally isn’t something to be covered up, and it’s not a sign of infection. Without specialised cleansing products, a vagina is not dirty – it self-cleans through natural secretions and the maintenance of a delicate pH balance.

(Picture: metro.co.uk)

If a vagina is infected, the answer isn’t to reach for at home remedies, ‘natural’ products sold on Etsy, or to get it steamed like Gwyneth Paltrow (please, please don’t do this). It’s to go to a doctor with actual medical training and knowledge of the vagina so they can figure out what’s going on and prescribe a safe solution.

As a society, we’re still deeply uncomfortable with chatting about our vaginas. There’s an overwhelming silence around the area, leaving women – particularly young women – feeling like there’s something abnormal about how their vagina looks, feels, or smells, simply because they aren’t hearing about vaginas from other people.

We worry that our vaginas are too loose after overhearing awful comments from men, then desperately search for answers online because we’re too embarrassed to bring up our fears with our friends or a medical professional.

It’s exactly this fear, confusion, and silence, that lets these magical vagina-improving products sell so well.

And that’s a scary thought, because many of these products can end up doing us harm – and those same women who were too scared to go to their doctor to talk about a problem that didn’t exist (unless your vagina is suddenly smelling very different or your discharge changes in appearance, texture, or smell, it’s FINE) are suddenly left with a genuine issue, that they’ll try to fix with more of these magical products with zero medical legitimacy behind them.

‘If these bacteria are disturbed it can lead to infection, such as bacterial vaginosis or thrush, and inflammation.

‘Perfumed products, soaps, gels, antiseptics, and vaginal douches can all affect the pH levels and the healthy balance of bacteria in the vagina, and cause irritation.’

Yes, that applies even when the product is touted as ‘all-natural’. Just because something is natural doesn’t mean it’s a good thing to go inside your vagina.

Please don’t make your vagina sad. (Illustration: Minerva Freire)

These companies are scared that one day, women will be entirely secure in their vaginas, comfortable with talking about them, and able to easily bring up any vagina-related issues with a doctor.

They’re scared because once women know that the vagina doesn’t need anything to keep it clean other than a quick rinse of the external area with warm water, they won’t be able to sell us overpriced, ‘specialised’ products.

They’re scared because if we stop worrying that our vaginas are too loose, that our labia are too big, that our vaginas are ugly, or that they smell bad, we’ll stop being interested in paying for surgeries to tighten and snip, products to scent us, and any other hot new trend designed to make our vaginas sparkle.

The moment we all stop being scared and repulsed by our own vaginas is the moment that companies like these stop having the power to sell us nonsense by waving false promises and bullsh*t science in our faces.

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If we get rid of the fear and confusion through education and open conversation, we’ll be able to call out these brands on their sh*t.

There is no need to spend your cash on specialised vagina cleansers, perfume, and whatever other treatment is trendy with celebs right now.

Your vagina is fine. Stop giving money to brands who tell you otherwise, and let your vagina do its thing.